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What books did Geoffrey Chaucer write?
The Canterbury TalesGeneral PrologueThe Knight's TaleThe Wife of Bath's TaleThe Pardoner's TaleThe Miller's TaleGeoffrey Chaucer/Books
What was Chaucer written?
He is seen as crucial in legitimising the literary use of Middle English when the dominant literary languages in England were still Anglo-Norman French and Latin. Chaucer's contemporary Thomas Hoccleve hailed him as "the firste fyndere of our fair langage".
What is Geoffrey Chaucer known for creating?
Geoffrey Chaucer (l. c. 1343-1400 CE) was a medieval English poet, writer, and philosopher best known for his work The Canterbury Tales, a masterpiece of world literature. The Canterbury Tales is a work of poetry featuring a group of pilgrims from different social classes on a journey to the shrine of St.
Why did Geoffrey Chaucer write The Canterbury Tales?
The tales are presented as contributions to a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims travelling from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. Chaucer's plan was to write two stories for each of the pilgrims, telling their tales both on the way there and on the return journey.
Who is known as the father of poetry?
Ever since the end of the 14th century, Chaucer has been known as the "father of English poetry," a model of writing to be imitated by English poets. “He was one of the first poets of his day to write exclusively in English (his contemporary John Gower, for example, wrote in Latin, French, and English).
What is Chaucer's most famous poem?
The Canterbury TalesWritten at the end of his life, The Canterbury Tales is Geoffrey Chaucer's best-known work. It is a collection of 24 stories told by a group of 30 pilgrims who travel from Southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Thomas Beckett. Chaucer did not complete the work before he died.
What types of literature did Chaucer write?
What types of literature did Chaucer write? Poetry, prox-translation.
Who is the father of English learning?
Geoffrey Chaucer contributed significantly to the development of the English language and is the father of English language. The father of English was born in London and was a writer, poet, and diplomat.
Who is the father of modern English literature?
William Shakespeare is considered by many to be the father of modern English Literature. It is not just his popularity and influence on modern writers that allows for this title to be attributed to him but because of the massive contributions he made to the development of the English language.
What is the main theme of Canterbury Tales?
Social satire is the major theme of The Canterbury Tales. The medieval society was set on three foundations: the nobility, the church, and the peasantry. Chaucer's satire targets all segments of the medieval social issues, human immorality, and depraved heart.
What is the most famous Canterbury tale?
The Wife of Bath is the best-known character from The Canterbury Tales and her prologue is better known and most often cited than her tale. She has traveled all over the world, has had five husbands, and recognizes that God has given everyone something they are best at and, for her, it is sex.
What is the message of The Canterbury Tales?
One of the main lessons throughout all of the tales and main story is that honor and honesty is valued. In stories like the Physician's Tale, we see that the lying Appius who lusts after a young girl, is eventually caught for his lies and thrown in jail where he kills himself.
Why is Chaucer important?
One of the reasons Chaucer is so important is that he made the decision to write in English and not French. In the centuries following the Norman invasion, French was the language spoken by those in power. The Canterbury Tales was one of the first major works in literature written in English.
What major works did Chaucer write in Middle English?
What Major Works Did Chaucer Write in Middle EnglishThe Book of the Duchess: This is considered to be one of the earliest poetry collections of Chaucer. ... The House of Fame: ... The Legend of Good Women: ... Troilus and Criseyde: ... Parlement of Foules. ... The Canterbury Tales.
Why was The Canterbury Tales so popular?
The Canterbury Tales is considered Chaucer's masterpiece and is among the most important works of medieval literature for many reasons besides its poetic power and entertainment value, notably its depiction of the different social classes of the 14th century CE as well as clothing worn, pastimes enjoyed, and language/ ...
What type of literature are The Canterbury Tales?
Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales is a frame narrative, a tale in which a larger story contains, or frames, many other stories. In frame narratives, the frame story functions primarily to create a reason for someone to tell the other stories; the frame story doesn't usually have much plot of its own.
What did Geoffrey Chaucer do for a living?
Geoffrey Chaucer is today one of the most highly regarded English poets, but during his lifetime his writing was largely subsidiary to his role in...
What is Geoffrey Chaucer known for?
Geoffrey Chaucer is considered one of the first great English poets. He is the author of such works as The Parlement of Foules, Troilus and Criseyd...
What is The Canterbury Tales?
Written at the end of his life, The Canterbury Tales is Geoffrey Chaucer’s best-known work. It is a collection of 24 stories told by a group of 30...
Who was Geoffrey Chaucer trusted by?
In that career he was trusted and aided by three successive kings— Edward III, Richard II, and Henry IV. But it is his avocation—the writing of poetry—for which he is remembered. Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales. Geoffrey Chaucer, from the 15th-century Ellesmere manuscript of The Canterbury Tales. Photos.com/Jupiterimages.
When did Chaucer appear in the Britannica?
Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now. Chaucer first appears in the records in 1357, as a member of the household of Elizabeth, countess of Ulster, wife of Lionel, third son of Edward III.
What was Chaucer's job in 1367?
In 1367 Chaucer received an annuity for life as yeoman of the king, and in the next year he was listed among the king’s esquires. Such officers lived at court and performed staff duties of considerable importance. In 1368 Chaucer was abroad on a diplomatic mission, and in 1369 he was on military service in France. Also in 1369 he and his wife were official mourners for the death of Queen Philippa. Obviously, Chaucer’s career was prospering, and his first important poem— Book of the Duchess —seems further evidence of his connection with persons in high places.
What year was Chaucer born?
Although c. 1340 is customarily given as Chaucer’s birth date, 1342 or 1343 is probably a closer guess. No information exists concerning his early education, although doubtless he would have been as fluent in French as in the Middle English of his time. He also became competent in Latin and Italian.
How many stories are in the Canterbury Tales?
Written at the end of his life, The Canterbury Tales is Geoffrey Chaucer’s best-known work. It is a collection of 24 stories told by a group of 30 pilgrims who travel from Southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Thomas Beckett. Chaucer did not complete the work before he died.
What is Chaucer's birth date?
Although c. 1340 is customarily given as Chaucer’s birth date, 1342 or 1343 is probably a closer guess. No information exists concerning his early education, although doubtless he would have been as fluent in French as in the Middle English of his time. He also became competent in Latin and Italian. His writings show his close familiarity with many important books of his time and of earlier times.
Where did Chaucer's family come from?
He died in 1366 or 1367 at age 53. The name Chaucer is derived from the French word chaussier, meaning a maker of footwear. The family’s financial success derived from wine and leather.
Who was Geoffrey Chaucer?
Geoffrey Chaucer. Geoffrey Chaucer was born between the years 1340-1345, the son of John and Agnes (de Copton) Chaucer. Chaucer was descended from two generations of wealthy vintners who had everything but a title and in 1357 Chaucer began pursuing a position at court. As a squire in the court of Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster, the wife of Lionel, ...
What is Chaucer's first work?
Chaucer’s first major work, The Book of the Duchess, is an elegy on the death of Blanche, John of Gaunt’s first wife. The poem, though filled with traditional French flourishes, develops its originality around the relationship between the narrator, a fictionalized version of the poet, and the mourner, the Man in Black, who represents Gaunt. Chaucer uses a naïve narrator in both The Book of the Duchess and The House of Fame, which employs a comic version of the guide-narrator relationship of Dante and Virgil in the Commedia. The talkative Eagle guides the naive “Chaucer” just as the naive Dante is guided by the gossipy Virgil. The Eagle takes “Chaucer” to the House of Fame (Rumor), which is even more the house of tales. Here Chaucer makes a case for the preeminence of story, an idea that he explored to great effect in The Canterbury Tales. The inhabitants of the House of Fame are asked whether they want to be great lovers or to be remembered as great lovers, and all choose the latter: the story is more important than the reality.
Why is Chaucer buried in Westminster Abbey?
That Chaucer was buried in Westminster Abbey was due primarily to the fact that his last residence was on the abbey grounds.
Why did Chaucer leave Canterbury Tales?
There is much speculation as to why Chaucer left The Canterbury Tales unfinished. One theory is that he left off writing them in the mid 1390s, some five or six years before his death. It is possible that the enormousness of the task overwhelmed him.
What was Chaucer's role in the history of the world?
By 1374 Chaucer was firmly involved in domestic politics and was granted the important post of controller of customs taxes on hides, skins, and wool. Chaucer had to keep the records himself as well as oversee the collectors.
What was the name of the animal that Chaucer raised?
This linguistic distinction was a class distinction in Chaucer’s England: if one raised a farm animal, one was a Saxon and called it by its English name; if one were rich enough to eat it, one named it in French: calf/veau (veal); chicken/poulet (pullet); pig/porc (pork).
How many years did Chaucer live?
The last thirteen years of Chaucer’s life correspond almost exactly to the span of years covered by Shakespeare’s Richard II, that is, the period marked by Richard’s claiming his majority (he had become king at age nine) and his assumption of the power of the throne in 1389 until his deposition and death in 1399.
Who Was Geoffrey Chaucer?
In 1357, Geoffrey Chaucer became a public servant to Countess Elizabeth of Ulster and continued in that capacity with the British court throughout his lifetime. The Canterbury Tales became his best known and most acclaimed work. He died October 25, 1400, in London, England, and was the first to be buried in Westminster Abbey’s Poet’s Corner.
How many parts did Chaucer write?
Chaucer planned to write the essay in five parts but ultimately only completed the first two. Today it is one of the oldest surviving works that explain how to use a complex scientific tool, and is thought to do so with admirable clarity.
What happened to Chaucer in 1359?
In 1359, the teenage Chaucer went off to fight in the Hundred Years’ War in France, and at Rethel he was captured for ransom. Thanks to Chaucer’s royal connections, King Edward III helped pay his ransom.
What did Chaucer do for the Queen?
From 1370 to 1373, he went abroad again and fulfilled diplomatic missions in Florence and Genoa, helping establish an English port in Genoa . He also spent time familiarizing himself with the work of Italian poets Dante and Petrarch along the way. By the time he returned, he and Philippa were prospering, and he was rewarded for his diplomatic activities with an appointment as Comptroller of Customs, a lucrative position. Meanwhile, Philippa and Chaucer were also granted generous pensions by John of Gaunt, the first duke of Lancaster.
Why did Chaucer stop sharing in her royal annuities?
When Philippa passed away in 1387, Chaucer stopped sharing in her royal annuities and suffered financial hardship. He needed to keep working in public service to earn a living and pay off his growing accumulation of debt.
Why did Chaucer resign?
Chaucer eventually resigned the position for a lower but less stressful appointment as sub-forester, or gardener, at the King’s park in Somersetshire. When Richard II was deposed in 1399, his cousin and successor, Henry IV, took pity on Chaucer and reinstated Chaucer’s former pension.
When was Chaucer's poem Troilus and Criseyde written?
Chaucer is believed to have written the poem Troilus and Criseyde sometime in the mid-1380s.
Why are Chaucer's tales important?
For both these reasons, it's fair to say that rather than providing a clear purpose for why they were written, Chaucer's tales are important for us today because they offer a window into Medieval English society. When Chaucer sat down to write out the tales in the 1380s, he had already encountered a broad swath of medieval society. Born in London around 1343, he gained experience in all sorts of settings: from his upbringing in a family of wine merchants to his first job working as a page in a noble household. He fought in the Hundred Years' War, was held captive and ransomed by the King, and served as a squire for a time in the royal court. He later became a diplomat and traveled widely through France, Spain, and Italy, learning about literature and politics along the way.
Where did Chaucer travel?
In the 1380s Chaucer moved to the county of Kent on the southern coast of England, home to the town of Canterbury and its famous Cathedral, and began work on his Tales.
How many tales did Chaucer leave behind?
And like many proposed film adaptations that never came to fruition, Chaucer left his planned 120 tales unfinished by the time he died in the year 1400, though he did leave behind 24 fascinating tales. Chaucer's voice as narrator is easier to pin down than his role as author.
What is the significance of the pilgrims in Chaucer's tales?
Basically, the pilgrims in Chaucer's tales provide insights into Chaucer as a forward-thinking author. Unlike other two-dimensional characters, like those in fairy tales, Chaucer tells his story with three-dimensional characters called social portraits. His insight into social realism, a literary style that aims to depict the intricate human world as it is, makes The Canterbury Tales a literary classic. It also makes this work of literature a vivid historical document that informs our modern understanding of life in the Middle Ages.
What does Chaucer's pilgrimage to Canterbury show?
The pilgrimage to Canterbury shows how people from all walks of life kept faith and the Church in a central place in their lives.
What is Chaucer's depiction of the pardoner?
Chaucer demonstrates this in his depiction of the Pardoner who doesn't practice what he preaches and the corruption evident in the tale of the Friar.
Who is the narrator of Canterbury Tales?
Geoffrey Chaucer's unfinished The Canterbury Tales follows a group of pilgrims on their journey from the Tabard Inn to Canterbury. This frame provides the opportunity for Chaucer, our narrator, to depict conversations between people from all walks of Medieval English life.
